pelvic fin

Definition of pelvic fin

: one of the paired fins of a fish that are homologous with the hind limbs of a quadruped

Examples of pelvic fin in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The three-foot-long creatures live near Australia, moving their pectoral fins in the front and pelvic fins in the back to plod along, writes Nat Geo’s Douglas Main. — National Geographic, "Will global health emergencies end china's wildlife markets?," 30 Jan. 2020 These three-foot-long creatures live near Australia, and, as their name implies, move their pectoral fins in the front and pelvic fins in the back to plod along the seafloor—or even atop coral reefs, outside the water, at low tide. — National Geographic, "These sharks have evolved to walk on land—and they did it quickly," 23 Jan. 2020 One possible explanation was that the marine sticklebacks had already carried a rare mutation for the loss of the pelvic fin, one that arose in their ancestors. — Quanta Magazine, "Fragile DNA Enables New Adaptations to Evolve Quickly," 5 Feb. 2019 Adding and subtracting repeats would then have been an easy way to fine-tune the expression of the genes involved in pelvic fin development. — Quanta Magazine, "Fragile DNA Enables New Adaptations to Evolve Quickly," 5 Feb. 2019 Their pelvic fins have been modified into a sucking disk. — Rachel Becker, The Verge, "How scientists captured a stunning, hellish menagerie of half-dissolved creatures," 21 Sep. 2018 Some have looked at coelacanths and sarcopterygians, or lungfish (the latter use their pelvic fins to move in a motion like walking). — Lorraine Boissoneault, Smithsonian, "What a Walking Fish Can Teach Us About Human Evolution," 9 Feb. 2018 Typically, these pectoral and pelvic fins — which correspond to forelimbs and hindlimbs in land vertebrates — are small and largely used for balance and steering. — Steph Yin, New York Times, "These Skates Are Made for Walking," 8 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'pelvic fin.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Pelvic fin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pelvic%20fin. Accessed 18 Jan. 2021.

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